The Tree

As we drove down a road near our house, we saw the tree.
It stood there in the center of a field silhouetted against the sky.
The light that time of early evening seemed to highlight the beauty of the tree.
I really want to take a picture of that tree, my youngest daughter said as we passed.

Loving photography as much as she does, she would be the one to capture its beauty.
I would love to take a picture of that tree in every season.
She made a mental note to do just that.
We continued on to our destination; I knew she was planning the shots in her head.

My youngest daughter will be going to college in the fall.
She wants to study digital media, which will allow her to learn more about what she loves.
She was applying for a special scholarship in the arts and needed to submit a portfolio.
Since she has her own photography business, she already had many options to select.

She needed some more pictures to round out her collection.
A picture of the tree would be her final submission.
I named it the Pride and Prejudice Tree after Jane Austin’s famous novel.
It’s size and shape reminded me of the scene when Elizabeth Bennett walks in the mist.

I drove with my daughter the day she decided to photograph the tree.
She wanted to photograph the tree from various angles.
She wanted the light to be just right, so she decided to take the picture at dusk.
She got out; I waited in the car; I watched her, amazed at the way she sees the world.

Her Nikon camera would capture the tree’s beauty.
A moment in time to be remembered with one click of a button.
We got home and she viewed the many pictures she took of the tree.
She had one shot that she liked the best.

That was the picture she submitted, in black and white, finishing her portfolio.

A few weeks later my oldest daughter remarked about this wonderful tree she always sees.
It was the same tree.
I wish you would take a picture of that tree for me.
My youngest daughter just smiled.

She knew her sister’s birthday was coming up.
She had already decided that this was going to be the present she would give to her.
She would frame the picture and include a verse that the picture brought to mind.
I knew she had intended to do this; but to her sister that day, she just smiled.

This past winter was a brutal one.
Almost 70 inches of snow and storms that weighed down many trees limbs with thick ice.
Wind chills below zero for long periods of time.
It took its toll on the landscape.

We drove past the Pride and Prejudice Tree one day when the roads were clear.
We couldn’t believe our eyes!
The beautiful tree was broken.
Half of the tree lay on the ground and the other half remained intact.

The beauty and stateliness of the tree was gone through no fault of its own.
The winter seemed to mock all that was grand about the tree.
It seemed to say, I’m more powerful than you.
Beaten and bruised, the tree was still standing.

My daughter bought a beautiful three-paneled frame.
She enlarged the picture of the tree, which she placed in the center panel.
On each side, on black paper, she wrote the verse in calligraphy-like handwriting.

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields it fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. (Psalm 1:1-3)

It was a beautiful gift.

My oldest daughter’s birthday came.
She opened the odd shaped package.
Her eyes lit up when she saw a picture of her tree!
When did you take this picture?

Before the storms came, my daughter said quietly as if out of respect for the tree.
My oldest daughter looked at the tree.
She read the words of the Psalm.
She loved her gift.

Beaten and bruised, the tree was still standing.

We will all face storms in our life.
We will be beaten and knocked down, almost destroyed.
Almost, but not quite.

We make look a sight.
We may be the worse for wear.
We may not be as stately as we once were, but we continue to stand.

Adversity has a way of doing that to us.
It will pound and batter us to the unrecognizable.
But, in Christ, we stand!

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. (Ephesians
5:13)

My daughter did get the only Fine Arts scholarship.
It seems fitting that the picture of the tree was her last piece.
It rounded out her portfolio perfectly.

Even if you are beaten and bruised, rejoice that you are still standing.
Look up!
Hold your head high!
You are a testimony to the God who enables you to stand.